This disclosure relates to thermoplastic articles, and in particular to transparent articles based on polycarbonate compositions that can perform in high-temperature environments, as well as methods of their manufacture.
Polycarbonates are useful in the manufacture of articles and components for a wide range of applications, from automotive parts to electronic appliances. Because of their beneficial properties such as transparency and impact resistance, polycarbonates have been widely used in applications where high impact resistance is important, such as helmet face shields, safety glass lenses, safety goggle lenses, and the like. In some applications such as fire helmet face shields, safety goggles for high temperature environments, or display screen covers or windows for high temperature industrial environments, other thermal performance properties may also be desirable, such as flame resistance and ability to withstand elevated temperatures without deformation. Although many polycarbonate compositions can provide beneficial combinations of the aforementioned properties, many known compositions have not been able to achieve desired levels of thermal performance properties. There accordingly remains a need in the art for plastic articles that provide beneficial combinations of properties such as flame resistance, heat deformation resistance, impact strength, and transparency for performance in high-temperature environments.